Cape Cod Select Cranberry Blogger Holiday Recipe Challenge...Featuring Cranberry-Thyme & Brie Phyllo Cups

Happy New Year! To bring 2016 to a festive close today, I'm sharing my official recipe entry for the Cape Cod Select Holiday Blogger Recipe Challenge. Cape Cod Select's premium frozen cranberries are hands down the best frozen cranberries I've cooked with! Cape Cod Select is a family-owned Massachusetts-based company that ensures cranberry lovers can use the tart red berry in their baking and cooking year round -- not just during the holiday season! Just in time for any last-minute New Year's Eve parties tonight...or even a fun game-day appetizer...I'm sharing my entry in the Baking Category: Cranberry-Thyme & Brie Phyllo Cups. 

For this savory-sweet bite-sized appetizer, a creamy whipped brie cheese mixture is baked in phyllo cups. Then, each cup is topped with a cranberry compote that's flavored with orange and fresh thyme. This appetizer looks sophisticated, but the components can be made up to a day ahead. Then you simply assemble, bake, and top when you're ready to serve. Add some nice wine or champagne, and you've got what I hope is an award-winning sweet-savory appetizer. Everyone who has tried these appetizers has loved them! Simple, gorgeous...and flavorful...is a winning combination!

Cranberry-Thyme & Brie Phyllo Cups

a Weekend Gourmet original

Ingredients (makes approximately 15 appetizers):

• 1 box frozen phyllo tart shells
• Fresh thyme leaves for garnish

For the cranberry compote:

• 16-ounce bag Cape Cod Select premium frozen cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• Juice and zest from one medium naval orange
• 1/3 cup orange liqueur
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme

For the brie mousse:

• 8 ounces triple cream brie cheese, rind removed
• 2 tbs. whipping cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Step 1: Make the cranberry compote. Add the Cape Cod Select premium frozen cranberries to a large saucepan over med-high heat. Add the sugar, orange juice and zest, and orange liqueur. Stir to combine. When the sugar has dissolved into the juice and liqueur, add the sprigs of thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries pop and the compote thickens -- about 15 minutes.

Step 2: While the cranberry compote cooks, make the brie mousse. Add the brie and whipping cream to a stand mixer. Whip with the paddle attachment on high speed for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is fluffy/creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste. By then, the cranberry compote should be finished, so add it to a bowl and refrigerate until you're ready to serve the appetizers.

Step 3: Preheat oven to 350. Spoon the brie mousse into a plastic zip-top bag. Seal, removing the air, and use scissors to snip a corner of the bag. Pipe the brie mousse into the phyllo cups. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, until the phyllo shells are crunchy and the brie mousse is starting to bubble. Top each phyllo cup with approximately a teaspoon of the cranberry compote. Just before serving, add a few fresh thyme leaves to the top of each appetizer.

These appetizers are so good! The crunchy phyllo cups, warm brie mousse, and tangy cranberry compote are a perfect combination of flavors and textures. The sweetly tart cranberry compote is perfectly flavored with the citrus and thyme. You'll likely have some of the compote leftover...that's an added bonus! It's delicious stirred into yogurt, or spread on warm buttered biscuits and drizzled with honey. 

For more great cranberry news and tons of great recipes, be sure to follow Cape Cod Select's social media feeds via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. To find Cape Cod Select premium frozen cranberries at a store near you, be sure to check out their convenient online Store Locator.

Disclosure: I received two bags of premium frozen cranberries from Cape Cod Select to use when developing my recipe contest entry. All opinions provided are solely my own.

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